
(Image source from: PTI)
Sanjay Malhotra, a 1990-batch IAS officer from the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed as the next Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor for a period of three years. He will take over from the current Governor, Shaktikanta Das, on December 11. Malhotra has previously served as the Revenue Secretary and has been instrumental in achieving recent improvements in tax collections. He will be responsible for considering tax-related proposals for the upcoming Budget. Malhotra has also held senior positions in the Department of Financial Services and the Ministry of Power, where he contributed to key reforms and policy decisions in the banking, financial, and power distribution sectors. He is an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and holds a master's degree in public policy from Princeton University.
The appointment of the new central bank governor is seen as a natural progression, given his leadership experience at the Department of Revenue. Former government officials have often taken up the role of RBI governor in the past, so this is not entirely unexpected. The former SBI chairman noted that the RBI has its own unique understanding of the market, and its policy decisions are based on data that is not available to other market participants. Additionally, the former RBI deputy governor stated that the central bank's processes are so robust that individuals who take charge of it end up appreciating its workings.